Somewhere Down the Road
by Schmendrick the Demented
Summary: The day Tenchi leaves for college


**Just a quick disclaimer:** I don't own the song, Barry Manillow does. I don't own the characters. I just adulterate them to my own perverse needs. Anyways... hopefully you'll enjoy.   
  
  
  
  
  


**SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD **

  
  
  
  


**We had the right love  
At the wrong time**

  


Ayeka watched the sun set. It seemed so sad to her. Like the light was disappearing from the world forever. So far she had seen more in life than she was willing to accept. She had lost and regained her darling brother. In the space of time it took to find a new family she had also found her heart. And now she was going to watch him leave. Maybe she wouldn't be watching him leave if she had arrived months or years earlier. Shaking her head, Ayeka knew he would have still left, and with more time, the pain would have just ached more. Maybe if she had arrived years later, after this necessary journey was over, again Ayeka shook her head no, then his heart may not have been available. Either way, it was inevitable.

  


**Guess I always knew inside   
I wouldn't have you for a long time**

  


It had been deliberate naïveté that Ayeka had believed he would stay forever. She knew he had a world of possibilities to explore. But it didn't make the pain any easier to bear. A bittersweet smile touched her lips. It had been easier to handle his eventual departure, by simply ignoring its eventuality. Self-inflicted ignorance had been wonderful bliss while it had lasted. But that time was over and now she had her love and his words as her only comfort in the long nights ahead. He had promised to come back to them. And while that did not mean her exclusively, she knew that he would be back with time.

  


**Those dreams of yours   
Are shining on distant shores**

  


When he had hugged her goodbye she could see his hopes and dreams for the future shining in his eyes. He needed the distance. If only to discover what he truly wanted and whom he truly loved. But letting go was so terribly difficult. Especially when he was to be going so very far away. America, it seemed so infinitely far away. The vastness of the ocean breaking her heart, he would be going so very far away.

  


**And if they're calling you away  
I have no right to make you stay**

  


She felt the words that would keep him at her side at the tip of her tongue. The words fighting desperately to escaped. Her heart struggled between his best interests and its own selfish needs. And in the end she couldn't bring herself to beg of him to place his future on hold. He needed to move past this definition of himself. If it took time and distance to make the path of his heart and his future clearer for him, then she would not stop him.

  


**But somewhere down the road   
Our roads are gonna cross again   
It doesn't really matter when**

  


Ayeka swallowed her tears and waved goodbye. Someday he would come back home and stay. Someday he would make up his mind. And someday he would tell her he loved her. As the family watched Tenchi board the plane, Ayeka felt the lump form at the back of her throat. The tears were going to fall, why didn't he just go? She couldn't let the tears fall until he was out of sight. Then and only then would they come. But still he stood there before the entry, blocking impatient passengers behind him. He looked back at the family; she could see the longing in his eyes. There glimmering in his eyes were the twins of her own suppressed tears. 

  


She watched as he gulped, squared his shoulders, gave a watery smile and one last brief wave. Then he disappeared behind the doors of the terminal. Finally her tears fell. He was gone. He had made the final decision to leave and now there would be little chance of him turning back. Ayeka held Sasami and comforted the girl through both of their tears. To her left Ayeka hear Ryoko softly sobbing into Washu's shoulder. To her right Mihoshi's dissonant bawling muffled by Noboyuki holding her in compassionate comfort. Behind her she could have sworn a sniffle that sounded like it came from the direction of Yosho. 

  


The family remained, tearfully watching as the final passengers boarded and the gate doors closed. Then as one the group turned its collective attention to the plane itself. Watching as first the gate pulled away from the hull of the 747. Despite the crowds and the hustling noise of the airport, Ayeka could feel the engines winding up. All too quickly the plane began to back out of its spot and head for the runway. The family watched with tearful hope as the plane began to barrel down the runway. 

  


Somewhere Ayeka remembered that the two singular most dangerous portions of air travel were the take-off and the landing. Ayeka squeezed her eyes shut and made a silent prayer to Tsunami to keep Tenchi safe. Then quickly opening them just in time to catch the rear wheels lifting from the ground. And like an overstuffed silver goose, the mammoth plane soared swiftly into the sky.

  


The group hung there in front of the window. Tearfully lamenting the temporary loss of Tenchi everyone remained frozen, looking longingly out the window, making a desolate portrait of an incomplete family. Slowly one by one the family turned to leave. More than just Tenchi leaving had occurred. Dreams had died and hopes had been shattered. More than just a family had been broken. Ayeka watched as before her Ryoko's tears seemed to consume her. The bravado, the arrogance, everything that Ayeka had come to believe Ryoko meant was gone, and in its place a hollow shell.

  


Ayeka felt more tears burn at the back of her eyes. There would be more than just her heart to heal when they arrived back home. Tenchi's departure had done more than created a void in the family. Ayeka looked down at Sasami, the poor girl was going to cry herself into exhaustion if she didn't stop. Whispering words that promised happier times, Ayeka tried to comfort Sasami as best she could.

  


**But somewhere down the road   
I know that heart of yours   
Will come to see   
That you belong with me**

  


Ayeka continued to whisper her tender words of comfort even as Sasami slept in emotion wrought exhaustion. Promises of Tenchi's return and blissful moments to come, all to be shared by the family, easily fell from Ayeka's lips. Words expressing how temporary the entire situation was, words to remove the bleakness of the present. Somehow she knew that Tenchi would be back and things would be better than they had ever been. The family would grow and would learn to survive the pain of its loss. They would all become stronger from this experience. And when he was ready and able, Tenchi would return to them. After all, everyone knew, a family always belongs together. 

  


The separation was only temporary. It may span a few years, but in the grand scheme of things, it was only a short amount of time. The family would find ways of making the time passing faster. Things that would help Tenchi, things that would make Tenchi proud, things that would bring them all together even more. Tenchi would return because he loved them, he loved them all. He belonged at home with his family and the people that loved him. 

  


Ayeka looked over her shoulder at mother and daughter. Ryoko was asleep as well. The physical and emotional expense of her tears taking in the same toll as Sasami's. Ayeka watched with concern frowning her brow, as Washu whispered similar words of hope and support in Ryoko's ear. Ayeka wondered what Ryoko was feeling. Was she feeling as shattered as hollow as Ayeka was? Was the pirate feeling the desolation of the empty days ahead bearing down, nearly crushing the hopes of the future? 

  


Ayeka's eyes met Washu's as the concerned mother lifted her eyes momentarily. The pair nodded to each other in a silent understanding. Today would be the end of the fighting, at least the true fighting in earnest. Something in Washu's eyes told Ayeka, that Ryoko's fragile ego couldn't handle another raging battle, not yet, not for a very long while. Smiling gently, Ayeka returned her attention to Sasami. Yes things were going to be immeasurably different, now... now, without Tenchi.

  


**Sometimes good-byes are not forever   
It doesn't matter if you're gone   
I still believe in us together**

  


From within her dreams Ryoko watched Tenchi leave. She knew he would only be gone a paltry few years, but in that time so much could happen. She knew that the distance made no difference. He would always be in her heart, but still watching him go was so difficult. Biting back all the words of love and pleas for him to stay Ryoko watched the only man she had ever loved walk out of her life. It had been so hard, so terribly hard to let him go. Especially after he had turned around to look at them one last time. They had stared at each other for what had felt like and eternity and for a fraction of a second, she had thought he was going to come back. She had seen his foot inch towards her. He had been about to take the first step back to her. 

  


Ryoko had watched the tears well in his eyes. Watched his heart rise with the lump into his throat. So much went unsaid in that moment. His eyes flickered to look at the rest of the family for a heartbeat, and then returned to hers again. Drawn by the pull of her heart Tenchi stared. She felt his resolve quaver, and she couldn't help the selfish hope rise but bit back the words. He was begging her to call him back. And that was something that she couldn't allow herself to do. Whether she wanted to or not he had to do this. He would only resent her and blame himself if he didn't follow through on this.

  


And when at last he accepted that she was not going to beg him to stay, he swallowed the lump at the back of his throat and firmed his resolve, then gave a bittersweet smile and he was off. She hadn't seen his slightly faltering wave. She had turned her head to Washu's shoulder the moment he had forced that smile to his lips. It hurt. It hurt so very much to let him go. She didn't want to look, she knew her actions would cause him to worry, but she couldn't watch him leave. A part of her had always hoped that this journey would be unnecessary. She had always known he would need the voyage. The time and distance offering him the only thing she could not. Answers.

  


**I understand more than you think I can   
You have to go out on your own   
So you can find your way back home **

  


Ryoko knew he had to go. Knew this moment was inevitable from the day she had first seen him as an infant. As her mother had told her on the way to the mini-van. Sometimes people need to leave in order to understand what they have. Sometimes people need to see what they have through the eyes of others in order to appreciate their own luck. Ryoko had already known all of that. She had always known Tenchi would leave her. That he would need to leave her, if only to discover what she meant to him. But it did not make the event any easier to accept.

  


They were home now. Home. The word seemed so empty and hollow, the meaning so trivial and vacant. The building was now merely a three-story reminder of happier times. It would not be home until Tenchi returned. The house before her was now nothing more than a place where her heart would long for his return. Sniffling slightly as she exited the vehicle, Ryoko held back the tears. Turning concerned eyes to Sasami, Ryoko watched as Yosho lifted the child from her sister's lap and carried her into the house. 

  


Next, worried red-rimmed golden eyes turned to regard Ayeka. The princess slowly emerged from the vehicle. Head held proud, tears streaks only minutely marring her beauty, Ayeka refused to deny her pain. Hesitantly, Ryoko approached Ayeka. Reaching a trembling hand out, Ryoko gently touched Ayeka's shoulder. The princess turned and the pair's eyes met.

  


In the space of a muted heartbeat, the shared pain of loss overcame rivalry. The hidden friendship buoying both women as they timidly approached each other. The rest of the family held its breath. Then on a hiccupping sob, Ryoko completed the distance between the pair and embraced Ayeka. And then the true tears came. The great torrent of body-rocking wrenching sobs, that tore from the heart and filled the soul with pain, bound the pair in their shared misery. There in front of their home, Ayeka and Ryoko held each other as they both mourned the depth of their loss. He was gone. Nothing more than he was gone, Tenchi was gone.

  


Yosho turned at the sound of more crying and looked to see Ryoko and Ayeka embrace, their loss bridging the void of their animosity. Tenchi's greatest gift to them was his absence, with it they would find a true friend in each other. With his absence they would find themselves, in the end this choice was necessary. And he was proud, proud of his family for its determination and strength. Either Ryoko or Ayeka could have stopped this; their tears had nearly undone Tenchi's resolve completely. But both had realized the necessity of the situation. Both had remained firm despite the obvious pain it caused. And now there they stood, crying and sharing their pain. Tears of loss mending what years of secret friendship could not. 

  


Yosho returned to his task and entered the house. Once he crossed the threshold he allowed the lone tear his heart demanded, fall. Then he climbed the stairs to Sasami/Ayeka's bedroom. Entered the room and laid the little princess down. Gently he brushed her hair away from her face and tucked her in. Then brushed away the stray tear, composed himself and left the room. Leaving behind him his fears for Tenchi and the family and strode confidently towards a future with his new family. 

  


For it was new, Washu had matured, finally sensing Ryoko's need for an adult rather than a pint-size teacher. Ryoko had evolved as well, and would continue to do so, into the person able to accept as well as give comfort. The whole family was evolving, changing past their carved niches. Soon, Sasami would blossom and before anyone new it, Tenchi would return. But for now, they would take each day as they came. Returning to the front door, Yosho watched as the pair continued to cry. This was going to be one long day, to be followed by one miserably long night for the girls.

  


Outside, Mihoshi watched as Ayeka and Ryoko held each other while they cried. It was all so sad. What was going to happen to the family now that Tenchi was gone? He was the center of the family, without it why were any of them there? Mihoshi shook her head. Such bleak thoughts had no room at a time like this. Instead she needed to concentrate on what the people around her needed. What her family needed.

  


Mihoshi gasped. Her family. It had been so long since she had felt she could honestly say she had a family. The call of duty pulled her away from her parents and her grandfather never truly accepted her for who she honestly was. But here, with that boy and these gathered people she honestly, truly had a family. And she was going to keep it. This family she would not lose. Not distance, not time, not even the will of the gods would separate her from this family.

  


**And somewhere down the road   
Our roads are gonna cross again   
It doesn't really matter when**

  


She had made her choices and she could accept her past losses. But she had a future that beckoned to her. A future that included the family that shared the home standing before her. Mihoshi smiled to herself. She would give the two their moment. Then together as a family they would all move past this pain.

  


Ryoko sobs began to ebb. Her eyes dry from all the tears and her throat raw from the wailing. In the wake of such an emotional outpouring, Ryoko felt the first touches of embarrassment creep into her heart. She had made a complete fool of herself. Crying like a baby, over what? Tenchi leaving? She had known he would. So why was she crying? Then Ryoko heard Ayeka sniffling, and Ryoko knew she could not lie to herself. She was crying because she had watched her heart fly away to a distance shore.

  


Just as Ayeka had. They were both hurting. Hurting for the same reason. Hurting for the same person. Tenchi. Ryoko's heart clenched and the tears welled again. Biting her lip Ryoko swallowed the urge to wail again. She wasn't going to start that again. Ayeka was exhausted. Fatigue obvious in the distraught princess's regal features. Ayeka need to rest. Ryoko lifted her head from Ayeka's shoulder and looked at Ayeka. 

  


The princess's smile was watery, wan and hovered at the edge of a sob, but it was a smile nonetheless. Ryoko accepted it, and offered one of her own. The pair tiredly staggered to the house. Crossing the threshold caused the pair to gasp at the stabbing pain of memories. They could still hear the ghost of his voice ringing around the space around them. Every thing reminded them of him. And the pain was becoming unbearable.

  


Ryoko helped Ayeka to her room; the princess's strength was flagging quickly. The emotional tax of the day wringing the last of Ayeka's vigor. Ryoko unceremoniously hefted Ayeka into the bed. The exhausted smile shone with true friendship. And Ryoko could not help the momentary sense of pride. Whispering her excuse for leaving Ryoko phased from the room. From the roof Ryoko could see the steps that led to the training grounds.

  


The tears snuck up on her. She hadn't felt them coming. But there she was bawling again as memories of Tenchi filled her mind and tore at her lonely heart. Lifting to the sky Ryoko flew. Seeking the freedom that only floating weightless through the air, could provide, Ryoko tried to escape her tears. Gaining speed Ryoko allowed the rushing winds to wipe the tears away. Refusing to accept her loss Ryoko pushed further into the sky. Higher and higher, above the clouds and past the sky, she continued to fly. Until at last she could see the stars.

  


There, hanging above the world she looked up at the stars. Seeking comfort in the heavens and its lonely beauty. Each star was the center of its own universe. The life and light of the planets around it, and without each star their planets would die, drifting aimless through the cosmos. But despite that fact, vast reaches of space separated each star from another. Great leaps of time forming a void of space between each brilliant heavenly jewel. Once, she had thought the moon was lonely. Pale and beautiful it floated amongst the stars, hanging above the earth, looking down with lonesome sorrow like a forlorn lover.

  


But after losing Tenchi, Ryoko amended that thought. The moon was infinitely luckier than the stars, for it was allowed the precious gift of proximity. Each day and night the moon was blessed with the blue green beauty of the earth. Where as stars were left to forever long for a way to span the distance of separation. No, the moon was no longer lonely. From now on every night the moon shone, she would know that proximity is its own reward for a true heart. With every full moon she would look up and see Tenchi's face and know that just like the moon her love hung above him, silent but true, eternal and unwavering. 

  


But with every night there was no moon, the night sky would be infinitely more heartbreaking, she would think of how lonely each star must be. Refusing to acknowledge the tears in her eyes and the pain in her heart, Ryoko hung above the world. Denying her desires and refusing to succumb to her need to fly to Tenchi. Hovering in her glorious beauty Ryoko watched her tears float away. Reflecting the light of the Sun her tears twinkled with the same lonely glimmering beauty as the stars above. After a quiet moment savoring her misery, Ryoko began to flutter back towards earth, slowly like a feather drifting on a gentle breeze. 

  


**But somewhere down the road   
I know that heart of yours   
Will come to see   
That you belong with me**

  


Ryoko knew that he would be back. Sooner than she thought, he would be back. And when that day came she would be ready for him. She'd be ready to accept his love as either a friend or as a lover. But that was years from now, some time down the road. For now she would content herself with her memories. For now she would hold onto her dreams. Some day he would see that he had always belonged to her, his heart had been hers from the moment she had seen him. But until that day came, she would hold on to her love and her family. Settling gently back into the atmosphere Ryoko watched the darkness of space give way to the glory of twilight. 

  


**Letting go is just another way to say   
I'll always love you so**

  


Touching down softly on the ground, Ryoko's tears ended and her boundless strength was drained. She no longer felt capable of existing. She had done the single hardest thing she would ever do. She had let Tenchi go. Without begging, without pleading, without dramatics or carrying on. She had kept her resolve and allowed him the freedom he needed. She trusted him to come back to her... safe and sound, with his heart uncomplicated by doubts.

  


Who ever the idiot that first coined the phrase "If you love something then set it free, if it does not return to you, it was never meant to be. But if it returns of its own free will then it was always meant to be." Who ever that stupid idiot was, deserved to be pounded into a bloody smear on the ground. Letting go was the last thing anyone wants to do with something they truly love. 

  


Just then a single white feather floated down from the sky, Ryoko easily caught it. Opening her hand Ryoko watched it. She had to set him free if he was to know what he wanted, what he loved. Blowing a swift breath at the feather, Ryoko watched as the gentle night wind caught the feather and carried it away. Watching the feather disappear into the night, Ryoko felt the tears come again. Letting go had been the last thing she had wanted to do, but in the end... she loved him. And even if it meant knowingly losing him, she would do it all over again.

  


**We had the right love   
At the wrong time **

  


Tenchi sat on the plane, straining to see the airport as the plane carried him further and further away from his family. The tears he had been fighting at the terminal were now silently flowing. Not even a full 15 minutes and already, his heart was aching. He wished he could turn back the hands of time. Turn back to the clock and taken the keys from his grandfather sooner. Given himself more time to spent with them. Given him more memories to soothe his throbbing heart. He wanted to go back. He wanted to go home. He never wanted to see tears in their eyes like that again. He loved them, he loved them all. 

Briskly wiping the tears away Tenchi reached under his seat and pulled out a tiny photo album. A gift from Washu and his father, it had pictures of everyone. Tenchi flipped through the pictures, stopping occasionally at snapshots that brought a smile to his face. Then he turned to a picture that he hadn't seen before. The girls were all dressed in their newest Yukatas. 

  


Ayeka was blushing demurely at the camera. While Sasami smiled prettily with Ryo-ohki happily munching on a carrot at her side both children looking adorable. Mihoshi seemed to be once again at the precipice of disaster as Washu looked about to strangle her. And off to the side, in what could only be deemed as a "Zero" moment, as Tenchi had taken to calling them, was Ryoko smiling wistfully at the camera. Her eyes shining with the hint of tears, the haunted look of loss already filtering into her golden eyes.

  


Tenchi sighed then brushed away the fallen tear from the protective cover. He flipped to the next two photos, both of Ayeka and Sasami. Tenchi chuckled softly. On the left page, Sasami lay asleep across Ayeka's lap as Ayeka caressed the child's hair while giving the "shush" indication to the photographer. On the right, it was Ayeka's turn to be asleep. Sprawled across the couch in a most unprincessly position, Ayeka was smiling gently in her sleep. Sasami was caught in the act of covering her sister with a blanket. The moment a tender and heartfelt time capsule of the two sisters love for one another.

  


The next page stole what little breath that had been in his lungs. There in her favorite gold and blue striped dress, sat Ryoko, chin in one hand, pen to paper in the other. Staring longingly out the window at the full moon. The love and yearning in her eyes pulling his heart into his throat. Despite the darkness of the picture the sharpness of the focus with the addition of the moonlight offered enough light to read the first few lines of writing on the page. Lonely like the moon. He remembered her singing a song to herself once that had that line in it. Had she written that song on that night?

  


Tenchi's fingers lifted to caress the photograph's subject's cheek. He remembered the lines and he remembered her voice. Tenchi's eyes slid shut. Her voice... his memory sending a choir of Ryokos ringing in riotous harmony around his mind. The soft sultry tones, the husky seduction, the brazen tempestuousness, the strident cry and the rage filled yell. All of them a shade of the person he had somehow grown to love. 

  


**Maybe we've only just begun   
Maybe the best is yet to come **

  


Tenchi had learned in the week preceding his departure of the possible path of his heart. He hadn't noticed the day when Ryoko's smile meant more to him. When her tears were enough to pull hasty promises to his lips. When her flirting had changed from an annoyance to temptation. He was only just beginning to understand what it all meant, and now here he was on his way to college as a foreign exchange student at an exclusive little college. The boundless blue of the Pacific Ocean between him and his family, and quite possibly the only woman he'd ever love. Why had he left? He didn't understand now. His soul longed to return home. To see her tears fade into a joyful smile. To feel her arms wrapped around his neck. He wanted so badly to return home, if only to erase the sight of her crying, the fear of losing him shining brightly in her tears, and the despair in her tremulous goodbye. 

  


He had wanted to tell her that it wasn't goodbye that he would always come for her. He had wanted so much to brush the tears aside and tell her he loved her. But then the turned his head to look at the rest of his family, and the doubts returned. Did he love Ryoko enough to sacrifice Ayeka? Was he willing to forsake them all, just for one? Was his love for Ryoko honestly love? 

  


He had hated himself for his doubts. He had seen the anguish his unwillingness caused. Ryoko had understood his thoughts, his doubts obvious to her. And it had pained her. His doubts had firmed her resolve, and sealed his fate. He would have stayed if she had asked. He would have forsaken his future if she had wanted to.

  


**'Cause somewhere down the road   
Our roads are gonna cross again   
It doesn't really matter when**

  


But his doubts had proven to her that he was not ready. His doubts had forced her into the one decision neither wanted, but was unavoidably necessary. He had to go. If not for his education and future, then for both their hearts, his heart needed the distance to find answers. Wiping the tears away from his cheeks, Tenchi squared his shoulder again. He would go back to her after everything was done. And when he returned home, he would have his answers. He would know. And then he would see her smile.

  


Tenchi sighed and looked out the window toward the front of the plane. His doubts and fears pushed to the back of his mind. In the void of those emotions, curiosity for his future filled his mind. He wondered what it would look like? What his future had in store for him? Tenchi shrugged his shoulders. He would be spending the first two years as an exchange student and the next two back in Japan. And while he could return home at any time with a call to Washu, Tenchi wanted to take this opportunity to see, the world as a normal human being.

  


Settling back into his seat Tenchi allowed the drone of the plane's engines to lull him to sleep. It would take a while, but in the end everything would work out. It always did. And sometimes the hardest tasked reaped the sweetest fruits. Drowsy eyes fluttered closed as a slight smile crossed his lips. Maybe after a few months, his family could come for a visit. An exhausted yawn, then a final stretch and Tenchi was asleep, dreaming about his return. 

  


"My Tenchi..." her voice softly cooed in his ear. "My darling Tenchi, did you think you could escape me? You were always mine, right from the very beginning. Silly boy, why did you ever doubt it?" And Tenchi slipped off deeper into his favorite reoccurring dream.

  


The flight attendant smiled as she covered the young man with a blanket and shut the over-head light off. It was so sweet when young lovers were separated for the first time. This young man was the fifth such male on the plane. All were smiling in their sleep, all dreaming happy dreams of their return, all whispering their love's name. And this young man was no different. When she had lowered the back of his seat, he had whispered the lucky girl's name. The flight attendant stood back and regarded the young man. She had seen him with his family at the departure terminal. The poor young man had looked torn between two strikingly beautiful young women. 

  


His boisterous family had easily caught the attention of the entire waiting flight staff and the innuendos and gossip began to fly. She had watched them interact. Her mind created personalities for each person, spinning an entire world of interaction, simply from gestures and proximity of the family. And from what she had gathered from the young man's body language he had been conflicted. Two girls wishing to lay claim to his heart and he just discovering the truth within. But most revealing had been his reluctance to leave. She had watched it all. And from her point of view had wanted to kick him. 

  


He knew the answer. All the answers he needed were standing in front of him, crying tears of loss. He had all the answers within his own heart; there was no reason for him to leave. He knew how he felt and he knew how she felt. Then he turned to regard the rest of his family. And still she wanted to kick him. Hadn't he seen the acceptance and the love in everyone else's eyes? But as she regarded him now, silently sleeping with such a happy smile on his face she couldn't hold it against him.

  


She could only see the answers he hadn't because she had, had to make the same decision in her own life, years and years ago. And if she had known then what she knew now, she still wouldn't have changed her mind. For whatever reason, this young man needed this journey and she gathered so did the family he left behind. Smiling at him, she couldn't help but brush away the stray lock of hair that fell into his eyes. Someday when he returned home, he would have the answers he was searching for. Just like she had. And she hoped his life turned out like hers. Smiling fondly the flight attendant looked down to her left hand and twirled the titanium circlet on her ring finger. Thank god she had found her answers and returned... just like she knew the young man sleeping happily to her right would. Moving on to assist the next passenger, the flight attendant made a fond wish of hope for the young man. 

  


**Somewhere down the road,   
I know that heart of yours   
Will come to see  
That you belong... ... ... with me.**

  
  
  
  


**End of Songfic Rant:** Okay I hope you all like this, I have no clue where this little story was going or if there's any more in this story. What I do know is if anyone out there wants me to make a sequal I'll try. Although I don't have any idea what I would do. Oh yeah, I'd better not catch any guff on the fact that this is a Barry Manillow song. Its not my fault my mother had the weirdest tastes in music. Anyhoo please R&R.


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